Bonded by Elements
by King Of Shells
Summary: A girl from Windmillville ends up on Lavalava Island and befriends a red Yoshi from one of the Yoshi villages on the island. This village has a tradition in which two teens have to get the ingredients for the Summer Celebration Festival, to create a magnificent rainbow colored fire. Will the two manage as a team and who will they meet on this journey? [OC Story]
1. Prologue

**First fanfiction! Of course this isn't really much of a FAN fiction, because Mario and co. won't be playing a part of this story. So if you can't stand OC stories, I suggest you keep away from this one. But if you can appreciate an OC story without including the main Mario characters (thus, just taking the Mushroom World as the setting) and doing its own thing, then you "may" have found a story to follow! I personally am not a big fan of OCs being the main role along with the Mario characters, but that's a different story (literally). If you want to read my opinion further on that, you can search for the journal on my DeviantART about that (KingOfShells).**

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In Windmillville, a place full of windmills somewhere close to Poshley Heights, an old Windmill could be seen from far away standing slightly tilted on top of a small hill being separated from the others. The windmill looked like it has been just recently fixed; holes had been patched up and the windmill was being supported by various wooden planks.

The girl who lived there was lying in her bed, she had bobbed brown hair which curled up at the ends in all directions and matching brown eyes, she was wearing a long blue pajamas and bright green socks. The girl had been staring at the ceiling in boredom for a while until finally letting out a sigh. At that point she decided she should take a stroll through the village.

Lazily the girl got out of bed and changed into her green T-shirt, blue jeans and turquoise colored shoes. After walking downstairs and locking the door behind her, she began her walk through the quiet little village. All the windmills looked alike except for the small differences such as curtains visible through the windows and the front yards. The windmills were used as homes, although there were a couple of gristmills in the village for food purposes.

Stopping on a bridge at the edge of a forest, she looked at the fast flowing water. Then she noticed the disfigured reflection of the moon. She looked up to enjoy its beauty and the dim light. Looking around in the sky she saw a falling star somewhere above the moon. She looked all the way up as she was walking backwards to be able to keep an eye on the falling star, she bumped into the rail behind her and tipped over, falling into the stream.

Straight after surfacing again, she gasped for air. Desperately she tried to swim for shore but the stream had gotten too strong as she was nearing a waterfall. Despite all her effort, she ended up falling down. The girl hit a sharp rock before she landed in the water, cutting the back of her arm. The girl clutched her arm in pain. However, as she tried to swim back up she ended up getting sucked into a pipe at the bottom of the lake.

The pipe had consequently lead to somewhere underwater again and disappeared after spitting the girl out. She breathed out in pain for the salty water had stung her arm. Trying to swim up as quickly as possible for she desperately needed air. The girl surfaced and took a big deep breath. Next she looked around panicky as she was panting. The girl noticed an island in the distance. She swam towards the island, wincing at every stroke as the salty water continued to sting her arm.

As she finally got on the beach, she lay down to catch her breath. The girl was absolutely exhausted. She slowly got up on her feet and tried to get some sand off her clothes and carefully cleaned her wounded arm. Her clothes were slightly torn and she was now gripping her bleeding right arm tightly to stop the bleeding.

The girl looked up in the sky and saw the bright moon and stars. After taking a deep breath she felt a bit more relieved. She glanced up and turned around to face the jungle, seeing a trail of smoke escaping into the night from the tree tops. The jungle seemed endless and the trees grew high up to the sky as if they were skyscrapers. It especially didn't help when the moon light was too weak to get through the leaf tops of the jungle, which made the jungle even darker and scarier. Hesitantly, the girl stepped into the dense jungle and began her search for any sign of civilization.

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**If you think this is a little short: don't worry, the other chapters are going to be longer!**

**Hope you enjoyed reading this, any criticism is welcome!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Big thanks to TheAutisticGamer for his review in the prologue! Hopefully I've paid more attention to the grammar this time! ;)**

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While walking through the dense jungle and her eyes quickly moving from side to side, the girl used her healthy arm to move any branches in the way. She then noticed something a little further in between the trees. A dim light was visible. The girl tried to get to the light as quickly and safely as possible. Breaking through the wall of trees, she stepped into a village of some sorts. The light was from a huge fire she had seen as the smoke trail on the beach. There were also Yoshis dancing around the fire. The village consisted of simple wooden huts and had leafs as roofs.

One bright yellow Yoshi with a small tuft of red hair noticed the girl. The dinosaur walked up to the girl, he tiled his head to one side in confusion and showing concern.

"Are you alright? You look a little pale," the Yoshi asked carefully. The Yoshi then noticed the wounded arm.

"Chief, we got a lost person over here, she looks hurt!" the yellow Yoshi yelled while trying to comfort the girl. He carefully looked at the arm and told the girl it'll be all right.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" a somewhat elderly sounding voice answered back. An elder Yoshi quickly stepped away from the dancing and singing circle of Yoshis. She was wearing a tall feather headdress in the colors of the same intense campfire in the middle. The elder Yoshi herself was orange, had blue scales and shell. An orb coloring in the colors of a rainbow was resting on top of the cane she was holding onto.

Careful to not hurt the girl, the chief looked at the wounded arm. The chief frowned, thinking the cut could get infected if not treated.  
"Bring her to the shaman, quickly," the elder Yoshi commanded.

"Yes, chief!" the yellow Yoshi answered immediately, he then turned to the girl.  
The yellow Yoshi signed for her to sit on his back. Smiling sincerely, she did so and they went deeper into the village.

None of the huts in the villages looked alike; they all seemed to have a different form and height to them. The huts were inconsistently and almost randomly built in a circle around the fire place, they were built in a few rows to fit in all the Yoshis.

Both of them made it quickly to a house with a colored leaf decoration on the front of the hut. The Yoshi let the girl get off his shell and he was about to knock on the wooden door, but somebody behind the door had already answered.

"Come in!" the voice chimed. The yellow Yoshi pushed the door open and let the girl go inside first.

"Shaman, this girl appeared in our village, could you please treat her arm?" the yellow Yoshi asked a red elder Yoshi, who had blue tufts of hair, dark blue scales and shell. She was wearing a small feather headdress in the same colors as the chief did.

"Of course, please sit on the table so I can examine your arm." The shaman dusted off an empty table in the only corner of the hut without any bookcases. The hut had a table in the middle and a stump as a chair, she was writing in a big book before getting interrupted by the yellow Yoshi and the girl.

"Now, child… what's your name and where are you from?" the shaman asked as she was examining the arm carefully.

"My name is Erika Kirbon. And… ah! I'm from Windmillville," she answered as she yelped in pain; the wound was still salty from the sea.

"That's one nasty cut you have there, lucky you found your way here." The shaman looked at the yellow Yoshi who had patiently been waiting.

"Oh, Sachiell, would you be a dear and get my grandmother's Book?" the shaman asked the yellow Yoshi.

"Of course, shaman." The yellow Yoshi looked through the bookcases and eventually found the book, he handed it over to the shaman.

"Thank you, and you know you can just call me Yenny," the shaman smiled as she opened the book.

"I'm sorry, but I think it's not respectful, shaman," the yellow Yoshi smirked, knowing the shaman wasn't a big fan of formalities.

"You silly Yoshi, now get out and go have fun with the others, you've already been a great help here." The shaman drove the yellow Yoshi playfully out. The girl quickly thanked Sachiell, who smiled back as he exited the hut.

"Alright, I think grandmother's book has something to help disinfect that cut." The shaman leafed through the pages.

"Do you want to tell what happened?" Yenny asked, without looking up from her book.

"Let's just say that looking at a falling star on a bridge isn't the brightest idea…" Erika chuckled sheepishly, not wanting to tell more.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll laugh about it one day," the shaman smiled as she threw some ingredients in a bowl.

"Heh, maybe," the girl tried to smile.

"Where did you say you were from again, Erika?" The shaman was grinding the ingredients in the bowl into a pulp.

"I'm from Windmillville, I just moved there after moving out of my parents' house in Neon Heights." Erika answered; she peeked at her wounded arm as the shaman was smearing the pulp carefully on it. After Yenny finished, she put away the bowl and grabbed a clean bandage.

"Well, Erika, Windmillville is quite far from here," Yenny stated while she was trying to bandage the wound carefully.

"… Where is 'here', actually?" Erika carefully asked, afraid of the answer.

"You're in Moeru Village, on Lavalava Island," the shaman answered as she was cleaning up the mess she had made.

"Wait, Lavalava Island?! That IS far away…!" Erika face palmed, thinking about how stupid she had been to fall in the stream, even by accident.

"It will be a while until you get home, so why don't you stay here for a bit until your arm heals?" The shaman helped the girl off the table.

"My neighbors might get worried, but I don't think it'll be smart to go anywhere with a cut like this. So I think that might be a good idea," Erika slightly smiled as she exited the hut with the shaman.

The shaman walked into the hut right next door, it was a lot bigger than her hut, and Erika figured it was because there she actually lived as opposed to work.

"Fiona! We'll have a guest for a few days." The shaman led Erika inside the hut. The place had a small round table in the middle, something that resembled a kitchen in the left corner, a ladder in the right corner for access to go to an upper level and small bookcases in the corners next to the door. It was fairly empty otherwise, but it looked somehow cozy with the wooden walls and cane carpets.

"Delightful! It has been a while since we had a guest! We have to set up a bed!" cheered a Yoshi who looked like a younger version of the shaman without feather headdress, although you could see in her eyes she was far more childish and cheery. A small Yoshi girl was behind Fiona; being a light blue and having green colored scales and shell. She didn't have hair like the other two Yoshis did, but did have a headdress with an orange and a yellow feather. Fiona and the little Yoshi were both in the kitchen cooking what looked like fruit, berries, and also some fish.

"This is Erika, she ended up here through a conveniently placed warp pipe, managing to cut her arm," Yenny introduced, taking off her feather headdress and putting it away on a small stump placed next to the door.

Erika looked at Yenny with a puzzled look on her face. "Wait, how…?" she stammered.

"This is my daughter, Fiona and one of her children, Yenna." The shaman ignored Erika's muttering as she continued.

"You're more than welcome to stay here while your arm heals!" Fiona smiled she winked obviously at Yenny, Erika didn't notice it as she had her attention focused on the little Yoshi jumping up and down next to her.

"Just like her father…" Yenny face palmed after her daughter had winked, but she chuckled in herself after being reminded of her loved passed away husband.

"Do you want to play?" Yenna finally asked after tugging Erika's T-shirt for a bit.

"Err..." Erika was unsure about playing with her arm just being treated, or actually taking on the offer to show her thanks to the family.

"Yenna, I just mentioned she had cut her arm. Doubt playing will help healing, now will it?" Yenny playfully patted Yenna's head.

Fiona kneeled down in front of her daughter to ask her something.  
"Yenna, it's almost time for dinner, could you go get your brother? You'll be able to play with him."

"But I don't know where Yeno is!" Yenna cried.

"Well, what has he been doing lately?" Fiona asked, giving a small hint.

"Studying and practicing?" Yenna suggested unsure.

"And where does he do that?" Fiona was trying to put the words in Yenna's mouth.

"Oh, right! On the hill, Thank you, mom!" Yenna gave a small kiss on her mother's cheek and ran off without closing the door.

"No problem, dear!" Fiona smirked as she closed the door instead and went back to her cooking, the shaman sat at the table reading a book and taking notes. She and Fiona looked at each other and both chuckled at the little girl's carelessness.

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**"****Moeru" means "to burn" in Japanese, the more you know~**

**Well, thanks for reading. Reviews are much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 2

Somewhere on top of a hill, there was a red Yoshi who looked like the shaman as well, except for being male and having a darker color overall, his hair was also a darker blue and was wilder and shorter. He didn't have a have a feather headdress, though.

"There are way too many healing items to remember…" the red Yoshi mumbled while reading a book, it was a pocket sized book with various mushrooms on the cover.  
"Well, I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with that many if I ever neede-"

"Still talking out loud, Yeno?" Yenna happily yelled from behind, she had sneaked up to him as soon as she noticed he was distracted.

"Yenna! What are you doing here, I'm studying!" Yeno snarled. Yenna had startled him, but he didn't want her to know she succeeded upon doing that.

"Mom asked me to go get you, it's almost time for dinner and until then you can play with me!" Yenna noted happily, whilst bouncing up and down. She seemed a little hyperactive.

"… Hmm, alright. I guess we can play." Yeno cracked a smile as he was running towards his little, bouncing sister.

After the two siblings played for a bit, they decided they should head for home. They carefully walked off the hill and headed into the jungle towards the village, it was already visible from the top of the hill, especially with the torches placed everywhere.

"Oh, right, forgot to tell, we're having a guest over for a few days!" Yenna jumped, she tried to flutter jump, but instead she almost fell over.

"Who?" Yeno asked casually, he had seen her try to do the flutter jump without success often enough to know she knew how to keep herself from tripping. He thought of helping her with the jump some day.

"A girl named Erika… She cut her arm," Yenna responded with a finger on her lip, she looked up and tried to catch the leaves from the trees above her.

"… You're being a little vague, Yenna, as usual." Yeno shook his head; he had a feeling he'd have to wait to get more information. Yenna had stopped trying to pluck the leaves as she wasn't able to reach any. She was now nudging Yeno's arm and looked at him with puppy eyes.

"What's wro-… Oh, you want to stand on my shell?" Yeno picked up his sister and placed her on his shell. Yenna stood on the shell in a surfer like position, holding onto his head scales to keep her balance.

"Here we go!" Yeno beamed. He ran as fast as he could with Yenna balancing on his back like a surfer.  
They headed towards the village, swiftly running between the trees.

After a few minutes they managed to get to the village. There were barely any Yoshis outside because most of the tribe was already eating dinner, the few Yoshis outside were little kids playing who hadn't been called yet by their parents.

"Mom! We're home! Is dinner ready?" Yeno opened the door and stepped inside with Yenna still standing on his shell, she jumped off and quickly ran for her mother for a hug.

"It's already on the table, silly!" Fiona answered while she was trying to place the last plate on the table while still hugging Yenna. Fiona had made mango and strawberry with fish.

"Ah, Erika. This is Yeno, my grandson. Isn't it funny how he looks just like his mother and grandmother while his sister looks like their father?" Yenny joked, she liked to tease her grandson.

"Grandma, not funny." Yeno looked annoyed at his grandmother.

"Come on, silly. Have you been studying for so long you got cranky?" The shaman joked again, Erika let out a small chuckle. Yeno glanced at the girl for a second, Erika immediately stopped chuckling and let out a fake cough.

"Yeno, why don't you tell Erika about the Summer Celebration Festival?" Fiona suggested as they sat down on the wooden blocks at the table.

"Tell that when you give her a tour around the village, that'd fit better," the shaman suggested further, much to Yeno's dismay.

"Wait, since when am I going to do that? I have more important things to do, and you know what that is," Yeno protested angrily, he didn't want to entertain some unwanted guest.

"What's the point if you don't have anybody to be your travel companion?" the shaman asked Yeno, who just let out a sigh and looked down, she knew it bothered him.  
"Don't you worry about it; your companion shall be found soon enough. Then you can continue on worrying about it." Yenny tried to jokingly comfort Yeno, who sharply looked up from his plate.

"You've been saying that for weeks now, the Summer Celebration Festival is in five days!" Yeno snapped, he almost smashed the table with his fists, but was able to control himself.

"You'll see due time, grumpy." The shaman winked at Yeno, who grumbled and quickly stuffed his face with food to quickly finish his plate. He couldn't even taste the mango and strawberries with crumbed snook filets, marinated with a little lemon juice and parsley.

"Alright, you haven't been wrong… yet… I'm done eating, can I go and show Erika the village now?" Yeno asked impatiently after swallowing, wanting to quickly get this over with.

"Sure, Yenna and I will clean up today. Next dinner will be your turn!" Fiona smiled as she and Yenna began clearing the table.

"Come, Erika." Yeno exited the house quickly without thanking.

"Thank you for the meal, it was delicious," Erika thanked, this was a new experience for her and she definitely wanted to try this recipe out once she got home.

"Don't mention it, dear, go and see the village now and don't forget to ask about the Summer Celebration Festival," Fiona excitedly noted, she went back to clearing off the table. Yenna was bringing one plate at a time to the kitchen counter. Erika was about to exit the house but then noticed Yenny signing to her to come closer.

"Yeno is normally a really nice kid, talk to him, I'm sure he'll come around. He loves telling stories, especially the ones having to do with the village," The shaman hinted.

"Eh, alright… I'll try," Erika answered unsure. Yeno sure didn't seem like he would like to tell anything at the moment to her, but she thought of at least trying it like the shaman said. She left the hut and closed the door behind her, Yeno was looking the other way with his back facing her, then he turned his head towards her.

"Took you long enough, come on," Yeno grunted. He turned back and with big steps began his tour, Erika proceeded to follow him.

"Say, could you tell me about the Summer Celebration Festival now?" Erika asked after she had caught up. She had gotten genuinely interested.

Yeno sighed, he slowed down his pace.  
"… Every year there is a Summer Celebration Festival, on the night before the first day of the summer, celebrated with a _Rainbow Fire_. Where all the ingredients are being mixed for an amazingly colored fire," Yeno explained. It seemed like he had talked to himself as he didn't even pay attention to Erika. The girl got even more interested in the village after hearing this, though.

"Wow, I'd love to see that." Erika tried to imagine the fire, something that was already pretty fascinating having even more colors must be a sight to be seen.

"It's absolutely beautiful, I have the best spot of the whole village," Yeno bragged. He looked back at Erika, he felt less annoyed now.

"What do you have to 'practice and study' for, if I may ask? Does it have to do with the Celebration?" Erika asked. Yeno looked down and sighed, again.

"Every 5 years, the ingredients for the fire must be gotten from places far away. They can only grow in the places they're found, some of them are rare or don't even grow every year," Yeno answered, "the so called _seekers_, are the ones who get the ingredients. Only the best teens get picked, it's a tradition here. You must be ready for the world outside of the village, otherwise you might get in big trouble." Yeno looked back at Erika to see her reaction and awaited her response, she had her head tilted to the right.

"I heard something about a travel buddy during dinner, so I guess there has to be two of you to get the ingredients, correct?" Erika assumed, she stepped over a lonesome stone in the middle of the road.

"I've been practicing for a few years now, but sadly everybody else who wants to go already has a companion, we're in uneven numbers…" Yeno sighed. He made a mental note to stop sighing so much.  
"Shall we start the tour?" Yeno put a smile on his face and walked ahead, Erika nodded and followed after.

"Let's start off at the spot that's the staple of this village, the Fire Place." Yeno showed the gigantic burned spot with colored stones around in a circle.  
"Our village is, of course, best known for our fires and traditions based on them." Yeno mentioned.

"Interesting, are there any other villages on the Island?" Erika asked, she knew about Yoshi Village, but hoped to find out if there were any more.

"Sure, we have loads of villages, even Shy Guy villages, but one of the other Yoshi villages close here is the Nure village, which is closest by here and is famous for its crystal clear water, the Yoshis live in huts above the water." Yeno explained.  
"And the 'main' village of this island is Hisuimi Village, although better known as Yoshi Village. This village is right next to a beach and the Jade Jungle, but is the largest and easiest to access for tourists," Yeno explained.

"Though, there are still enemies there, but far less than anywhere else on the island besides the villages. You just have to be careful not to provoke them." Yeno smirked as he continued on walking, expecting Erika to follow.

"… Wait for me!" Erika stammered as she caught up to Yeno. She tried to keep herself from smacking the back of his head. She knew it wasn't worth it, yet.

Back in the village, the shaman was reading a book and writing down notes in her shaman hut. As the shaman of the village, it was important for her to know which herbs and plants could help to cure illnesses. She loved helping other people and learning, but at times it could get really boring. Luckily, somebody would always drop by.

"Come in!" Yenny yelled, the person who was standing outside opened the door. It was the Chief, she stepped in and closed the door behind her. The orange Yoshi immediately asked a question.

"So, how's the girl doing? I heard you let her stay at your place for a few days?" The Chief walked closer to the table the shaman was writing something down. Yenny didn't look up.

"That's right, and she's doing fine, I've gotten Yeno to show her the village," Yenny answered without looking up.

"So you were right all along, good news for Yeno then!" the Chief smiled, she was always happy to see a tribe member do well.

"Since when have I been wrong?" Yenny smirked, finally looking up from her book at the Chief.

"… You love asking that, don't you?" The Chief ruffled Yenny's hair, it was a bit of a family tradition to ruffle someone's hair.

"Not as much as you love bossing around," Yenny chuckled, she returned to her book.  
"But do you think Yeno has a chance against the others?" The shaman asked without looking up, she dipped a blue feather in an ink pot to write something down.

"Oh, Yeno has good chances of survival, you can see he has what it takes to survive and to be able to get the ingredients, but definitely won't be able to do it alone. I have no clue how the girl will compliment his skills and fill in his short-comings," the Chief answered turning slowly to the door. She was always trying to look out for her tribe. If anything happened to one of the youngsters then she would never be able to forgive herself, she couldn't bear to lose any more. The orange Yoshi waited for her older sister to set her mind at rest, as she always does.

"Don't worry, you'll see." The shaman smiled, she turned the page and grabbed a piece of charcoal to draw an herb on another piece of paper.

"Hmm, alright then… I'll see you, sister." The Chief exited the hut and head for her own home, wondering what awaited her in the future.

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**I decided to make the Yoshis not ONLY eat fruit (like so often portrayed). Yes, it's still a big part of the meal, but they also eat some other things along with it. They are quite literally om(nom)nivores, so I thought of having them only eat fruit was a little boring, but I still like it being a big part of the meal. Also note how I placed the fruit up front when describing the dish, something I got from what they used to do in the Dutch households whenever the man asked what was for dinner: First note the vegetables and then the meat.**

**Usually the Yoshis on the island eat fish along with fruit as it's easy for them to just go fishing (with or without their tongue, it depends on what they want to catch. Usually they fish using a fishing rod to prevent injuries).**

**Yoshis might even catch amphibians, reptiles or mammals for meat (whatever there is in the Mushroom World, I personally think a good chunk of the creatures we know also ended up in the Mushroom World, but I'll discuss that later).**

**Of course they won't be eating the creatures that are known to be able to speak, or at least known to be intelligent like a human. Like Goombas, Koopa Troopas, etc. Pretty much all the creatures that have appeared in the Paper Mario series and have talked. (They can, of course, but for ethical reasons...) Naturally, Yoshis won't be eating anything that can't be digested, like Chain Chomps for example. Just because they can make eggs out of enemies doesn't mean they can use it as nutrition.**

**TLDR; Yoshis eat actual meat and not only fruit, even though it still is a big part in the meal. Also some head canon stated above, but nobody cares about that.**

**Anyway, enough rambling, hope you enjoyed reading this! Criticism is much appreciated!**


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